The Dusastryka ceremony (Dussa stree ka)
The Dusastryka ceremony is one of the many rituals practiced around the world that aim to attune the souls of Soulmages to The Ether in order to strenghten their link and by proxy, their ablilties.
History
While the exact origins of the practice of attuning one's soul to the Ether is unknown, most scholars assume that it must have begun with the apparition of the first Soulbound Mages, with many different cultures developping similar rituals seeking the benefit of attuning their souls to the Ether's energy. However, it was the rumalians of northern Arros, who discovered a new method of attunement, which was so successful it, in time, came to replace all the other throughout Arros, and the Enask and Osian. They called it the "Soul Reaching Ceremony" which translates into Dusastrika in Rumalian.
Execution
To sucessfully conplete the ceremony, a soulmage has to follow these 4 steps.
Going to a Suriat Temple
The first step is to get to a Suriat. These large temple complexes are buit in the mountains in order to help a soulmage connect to the Ether so they can attune their tether to it. It is not impossible to do it near sea level, but it is much harder. Suriats are rare, and only 4 of them exist in Arros and most of them around the world are quite isolated and far from civilation. Guides are usualy available to acompagny soulmages up the mountains to the temple. For most of Arrosians, the trip to a Suriat is made during summer, where conditions in the mountains are much safer, but in Rumalia, it is part of the Vecan rites as thus, it is always done during the last Veosian full moon of the year, around the 16th of December.The Ceremony
Once arrived, they will be welcomed by the Suriati, or temple master, who will allow them to rest for a day or two before the ceremony takes place. During their stay at the temple, the mage is put in a room within 1 of the 4 sections of the building, reserved for each types of soulmages. Once the Suriati juges that the mage is well rested and ready, he begins the ceremony on the following night by giving them Dreamer's tea, which induces a state of calm and sleepyness into the mage. As they fall asleep, the light of Veos and the tea work to allow the soul of the mage to leave its body. While the body is left in a state between life and death, the soul travels upwards, along the tether and towards the sky. As it does, it naturaly attunes itself to the energy of the Ether and begins to travel faster and faster until they reach the edge of the sky and breach it.Entering the Ether
As they breach the sky, their soul enter a sort of in-between region located between the Physical plane and the Etherial Plane. During this time, their body, which remained in the physical plane, will begin to glow slighly, emiting a faint blueish light. Eventualy, after around 10-20 minutes in Hysal, but only around 30 seconds in the soulmage's perspective, they will reach the base of the Tether anchored to the ground of the Ether, which means that they have completed the objective of the ritual. Usualy, the moment they touch anything in the Etherial plane, they are violently thrown back along the tether and down towards their bodies. Once their souls reaches their body it gently reenters, which wakes them up. This concludes the ritual. Mages with a stronger affinity to the Ether may be able to stay there for a longer period of time, lasting up to a couple minutes for them, but days from the POV of the people left in Hysal.Aftermath and side-effects
Once they wake up, they are able to leave their room but they must stay within the wing of the building designated for them, where they will remain for up to a week. This is because although their souls have been attuned to the Ether, their bodies have not and so this can cause problems if they try to use their abilities. After about a week, the possibility of these side-effect resurging becomes almost non-existant and the temple master will allow them to leave, though they are still allowed to stay for a few more days if they so wish to do so. Before leaving, the temple master will give them a specialy made Talismans, shaped and engraved with markings that specifie the type of Soulbound Mages they are. It is generaly given as a necklace, which is put around their neck.Participants
The usual demographic of people participating in this ritual are teenagers who just developped their Soulbound magic abilities, but people of all ages can participate in the ceremony, as long as they are Soulmages. The temple master and his staff working in the day to day inside the Suriat temples will also be present to ensure the well being of the participants during the ritual.
Observance
In Arros, The ritual is alomst always done on the 16th day of every month, as Veos is brightest then, while in rumalia specificaly, its done on the full moon of the year, in acordance to the rites of the Vecan fate.
Components and tools:
- Dreamer's tea: A beverage made of Dagfar leaves tea mixed with honey and goat milk. The beverage has a relaxing effect that allows people to meditate.
Important Locations
Related Organizations
I liked reading this article ! I definitely love everything about soulmages and their abilities. I noticed a little something weird in the last sentence of The Aftermath, so you might want to check it and fix it. Maybe it's me who don't understant english well enough, though ! I like that the temple look out for them for a few days, instead of throwing them in the wild where they would endanger themselves and/or others. I wonder what they can see in the ether and in the in-between !
You're right about the weird sentence, it doesn't make any sense lol, so i'll fix it. But thanks for your positive comment, Its really encouraging! As for what they see on their journey to the Ether., you can check the article on the Ether itself if you want an idea.